The Medallion of Bastet
by Sylvia Viridian
Summary: Rating may increase later. A girl being pursued by evil ducks into a game shop to hide, and finds a possible solution to her danger. But will it be enough? YamiOC, no Tea bashing, crossover with several other fandoms
1. Ch 1: An Unexpected Meeting

Hi, peoples! I've finally decided to start writing up this story that's been running through my head for ages, in hopes that I can get my muses to focus back on my other works. It's a crossover with several different universes, but you don't have to know anything about them to understand the story (although knowing them will help you get some jokes). Because of this, and because I like to make people curious, I'm not going to tell you what universes it crosses into.  
  
This is also an AU fic, set sometime after everything that is going on right now has been resolved, using what I know about the characters at this point. Sorry if there are gaps in my knowledge, I can't always get to a tv when the show is on. Yes, I'm afraid I must rely on Kids' WB for my info, sorry if that annoys anyone. The dubbed version is what I became acquainted with, and it's thanks to it that I fell in love with Yami; his voice is simply *gorgeous*. So everything I know comes from the dubbed version or from reading fanfiction.  
  
Anyway, I've decided that Yugi and company are mostly 15, unless otherwise stated. Serenity is 14, Mokuba is 11, Mai is 17. I've given Yami his own body, and some(but not all) memories back, and he is physically 17. Bakura from the show is Ryou, Yami Bakura is Bakura; it's just easier that way. The Ishtars don't show up, so there's no need to differentiate between Mariks. Umm...anything else? Oh, yes, I like Téa, so don't flame me for showing her in a favorable light. No yaoi pairings, either; I don't usually read them, and I never write them. Pairings will be Mai/Joey, Tristan/Serenity/Duke, possible Seto/Serenity, Yugi/Téa, and Yami/OC. Don't like, don't read.  
  
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN IT! Well, except the OC. Laurel I own. And her medallion. But not Yu-Gi-Oh, or the other five fandoms. (I just gave you the number, didn't I? Oh, well, that would have come up shortly.) On with the show!  
  
*word* is emphasis, **word** is thoughts, //word// is mindspeech.  
  
The Medallion of Bastet Chapter 1: An Unexpected Meeting  
  
Yugi Moto was minding his grandfather's shop one day, when a girl dashed in frantically. She wore layers of dirty clothing and a large backpack, and she looked like she hadn't bathed for a few days. Generally, she seemed to be the sort of person one normally found begging on street corners. She looked at Yugi with desperate tears in her blue eyes.  
  
"Please, hide me! You've got to help me, they'll kill me!" she gasped out between pants. She had clearly been running. Yugi made a quick decision.  
  
"In here," he said, pushing her into the back room. No sooner had he done so than two men dressed all in black ran in the door, looking about wildly.  
  
"Where did she go?" one of them growled at Yugi. The boy pointed mutely out the back door of the shop, into the alleyway behind it, and the men dashed out quickly. After he was sure they were gone, he poked his head into the back room, where the girl stood trembling.  
  
"They're gone," he said, "Who were they?"  
  
"You don't want to know. My name is Laurel, thank you for hiding me, don't tell anyone you did, they'd come back and hurt you. I'll be going now, don't worry, you won't be in any more danger." She said this all very quickly, while trying to pass by Yugi. She almost made it, but stepped on a broom handle that someone had left lying on the ground, and fell on her face. "Ow! Shit!" she cried. She was up again in a flash, but in the fall, something golden had slipped from beneath her shirt and was now dangling from her neck.  
  
"What's that?" he asked, pointing.  
  
Laurel's expression changed to that of a deer caught in headlights. "That?" she squeaked, "Oh, it's nothing, just a little trinket my cousin gave me."  
  
"Why was your cousin in Egypt?" Yugi queried. He had gotten a better look at the medallion now, and had seen what he recognized as Egyptian hieroglyphs.  
  
"H-how did you know?" she choked out.  
  
"There are hieroglyphs on it. I've learned to recognize them, if not to read them. And I happen to have one of the world's greatest experts on ancient Egypt staying here with me," he said with an internal smirk.  
  
"Really?" She had stopped trying to get past him now, realizing that she wasn't getting away until the kid decided to let her. There was something odd about him...  
  
"Sure," he grinned, "You wanna come meet him? He might be able to tell you what that is, and why those men were looking for it."  
  
Laurel's mouth flopped open briefly, then smapped shut. "You don't miss much, do you?" she said with a rueful smile.  
  
"No, not really. Anyway, he's upstairs in the apartment. You coming?"  
  
She looked into his face for a long moment, trying to see if there was any deceit there. Finding none, she nodded. "Okay," she said softly.  
  
They climbed the stairs to the living area. "I'm Yugi Moto, by the way," he told Laurel.  
  
"The Duel Monsters champion?" she asked, surprised.  
  
"Sort of, yeah. It's...hard to explain," he replied. Laurel looked confused, and Yugi changed the subject quickly. "Hey, Yami," he called out as he reached the top, "We've got a visitor!"  
  
"Who is it?" a deeper voice asked. An older teen emerged from the kitchen. He and Yugi looked so alike that Laurel instantly decided they must be brothers. The only difference between them was height, slight hairstyle modifications, and presence; Yami had an aura of...something. Laurel couldn't quite decide what. Confidence; calm, quiet assurance; charisma...words flitted through her head, but none of them quite fit. She realized she was staring when their eyes met, and she looked away quickly, willing herself not to blush.  
  
**Damn, he's hot,** she thought, the tips of her ears turning pink despite all her efforts.  
  
Yami smiled a little when he saw this, and continued studying her. At first glance, she looked like any street kid; the look in her eyes was that of a whipped dog. And yet, underneath it, he could see a defiant strength; whatever had happened to her, she had been bent but not broken.  
  
Yugi, oblivious to all this, answered Yami's question, "Her name is Laurel, and she's being chased by some weird thugs who want the medallion she's wearing. It looks Egyptian."  
  
"Really." He turned his attention to the medallion, and his eyes widened slightly. "...May I see it?" he asked, almost hesitantly.  
  
Laurel hesitated, then removed it and handed it to him. He seemed trustworthy, and she definitely trusted Yugi. Yami nearly dropped it in surprise when he touched it; it nearly sizzled with power. **Gods above, does she have any idea what this *is*?** he thought as he examined it. "Amazing..." he said aloud, "...I've heard of this, but I never thought I would live to see it resurface." Yugi smiled a little, making Laurel wonder what joke she'd missed. "It's the Medallion of Bastet," Yami finished, sounding slightly awed. He turned his intense gaze upon Laurel, "Where did you get it?"  
  
Laurel flinched slightly under his stare, but held it for a moment before looking away. As she did, he saw pain in her eyes. "That's a long story. Why don't we sit down?" she said, gesturing toward the couch. They sat on opposite sides of the girl, and she began to speak slowly.  
  
"My sister and I are orphans. We lived with our cousin for years, but he was often away on digs, being an archaeologist. One day, he came back from a dig all scared. He said he had found some strange artifact, and that we would have to leave, because there were thieves chasing him. We had packed our backpacks with what we would need, when all of a sudden there was a pounding on the door. My cousin," she swallowed, "he pressed the medallion into my hand and told us to hide in the closet. We had just gotten there when the door broke down. We heard voices, my cousin and someone else. They talked for a little bit, my cousin getting more and more scared, and then...the other voice gave some kind of command, and my cousin just...screamed. I'll never forget the sound." She swallowed again, and closed her eyes against the tears welling up in them. After a moment, she continued, "Then everything went quiet for a few minutes. All of a sudden, we heard a snuffling noise. It stopped just outside the closet door, and then something yowled. There were footsteps, and a voice said 'Good work, Persian'. Then the door opened.  
  
"There was a tall man in a black business suit standing there next to some kind of trained cougar. We were too petrified to move at first; then, I panicked. We shoved past him, I don't know how, maybe he didn't expect us to move so fast. Anyway, we ran, and didn't stop until we reached my sister's friend's house. We stayed the night, then I left in the morning after they promised to take care of her. Ever since then, I've been running, and they've been following me. Sometimes I think I've lost them; but they always find me again. I'm so tired of it...I just want to stop, to not have to run anymore." She didn't even bother to hide the tears flowing down her cheeks. "I want my family back. I saw what they did to my cousin. The cougar disemboweled him, then slit his throat." She pulled her knees up to her chest, rocking slightly. "I don't want him to catch me. I don't think he'd kill me so quickly."  
  
**************************************************************************** *********  
  
So, what do you think so far? It's not very good yet, I know, please bear with me, it will get much better. Who can tell me who the evil dude is? Why does he have a 'trained cougar'? What's the secret of the medallion? Please tell me, I want to know what you think! Oh, and who wants to see Seto/Serenity later on?  
  
Nina: Don't flame her, she's promised to turn me loose on anyone who does. And I'm her muse of angst and drama. You don't want to see what I can do. *feral grin*  
  
Lily: Yeah! So there! *sticks tongue out*  
  
Nina: -_-; Go back to your fluff, Lily, you don't belong here.  
  
Sylvia: Yes, she does. You know I can't write a fic without humor. This chapter is pretty dark, but there'll be fluff intermixed with everything else.  
  
Lily:^__^ Review please! 


	2. Ch 2: A Place to Stay

Hi, I'm back. Thank you, Princess Atina, for reviewing; everyone else, please review! Let me know you're there! If there's nobody else…well, it doesn't matter, because my muses will insist I post chapters anyway. *sigh* Why do I let you two control my life?

Lily: Because I'm cute and funny.

Nina: Because you know I can torment you if you don't.

Both: Because no matter how inconvenient we can be, you still love us!

^_^; oh, yeah…

Anyway, more explanations: I forgot to mention, this fic is also going to involve a different kind of card game, one that I like to play, called Magic: The Gathering. Wizards of the Coast owns it and all the cards associated with it unless I specifically state otherwise. Also, I will be posting quotes and song lyrics which I associate with each chapter at the beginning. Often, I hear a few lines of a song that I think are just *so* perfect…but then the rest of the song doesn't match, or it would be too difficult to put into a songfic. This is my solution.  Some will be cute, some will be serious, some will be nonexistent, depending on my mood.

On with the show!

Oh, and I've figured out how to apply underlines and italics, so from now on, _this_ is thoughts and this is emphasis. Mind-speech is //_this_//.

And I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter 2: A Place to Stay

"There's no place like home…" –D. Gale

            Yugi and Yami sat stunned when Laurel had finished her story.  After a moment, Yugi spoke.  "H-how long ago was that?" he asked hesitantly.

            "Two years," she replied softly, not looking up.  Yugi's eyes widened in shock; he seemed unable to reply.

            Yami remained silent, his expression unreadable to most.  Only someone who knew him well would have noted the slight differences in the set of his lips and the tightness around his eyes, that betrayed his cold fury at how the girl had been treated.  The thought of one so young living in such constant fear was appalling.  And today, she had nearly been caught.  If she had ducked into some other store, or tried to keep running, she would have been found, sooner or later.  He was suddenly very glad that the men had chased her here.  He studied her face.  She seemed young, a little older than Yugi; perhaps around Yami's physical age.  Her hair, a dishwater-blonde color, was grimy and tangled; the tears falling from her stormy blue eyes left streaks in the dirt on her face.  She was the very picture of misery, and Yami wanted very much to help her.  "You could stay here with us," he found himself suggesting, much to the surprise of both himself and Yugi.  Once Yugi had gotten over the initial shock, he grinned.

            "That's a great idea, Yami!  We can help her!  And I'm sure Grandpa will let her stay."  He looked to Laurel for her response.

            She seemed touched, but uncertain.  Yami realized that most people were probably unwilling to take someone in who was being hunted by such a merciless killer.  She'd probably had to beg most folks to let her stay just one night.  It was understandable, but he felt a flare of anger anyway.  Laurel dissipated it a moment later by speaking.

            "I…I appreciate the offer.  You guys are really sweet…" she began.  Yami seemed a little taken aback; 'sweet' was not high on the list of adjectives usually used to describe him.  Not noticing, Laurel continued, "But I don't want to put you in danger.  I'm sure you'd do your best to protect me, but the guy with the cougar isn't the only one trying to get me.  One place I was staying, this vampire dude came out of the computer and tried to grab me.  Called himself 'Myo'-something.  Then there's the creepy old guy in the shimmery white robes, and the one with olive skin, red hair, and a gigantic nose.  And there's this guy in a black cloak, he's really scary.  He's got some kind of birth defect or something; no nose at all, just a couple of slits –looked kind of like that American rock star Michael Jackson –and red eyes.  That one was waving a stick around, and weird stuff kept happening…anyway, you see that I can't stay.  I know you'd try, but I don't think there's anyone who could stand up to them.  They've all got weird powers, and unless you had some too, or a magic army stashed away somewhere," she eyed them, "unlikely, they'd simply be too much for you."  She looked at them apologetically, "I wish I could stay put somewhere…but I just can't."

            Yugi looked at his 'brother', "You think we should tell her?"

            "I don't think we have a lot of choice, if we want to convince her to stay."  He paused for a moment, trying to decide on the best choice of words.  _How can I say this without frightening her off?_  "I'm not exactly normal myself…" he started.  Laurel suddenly grew edgy and suspicious again.

            "What do you mean?  Don't tell me you want my medallion, too!"  She clutched it protectively.

            "No, no, that's not it at all.  I…hmm.  Let's try it this way.  Didn't you think I looked a little young to be one of the world's leading experts on ancient Egypt?"

            "A little…I just figured you're older than you look…"  She sounded uncertain.

            He snorted gently.  "You could say that.  About 5,000 years older, as a matter of fact."

            Laurel stared in disbelief.  She stood and faced him, looking indignant.  "I can't believe this!  You think I'm making it up?!  There are people chasing me!"  She rounded on Yugi, "Yugi, you saw that guy's minions.  You believe me, right?!"

            Yugi nodded quickly, "I believe you…I believe both of you, as a matter of fact."  He smiled a little, "I know it seems crazy.  I wouldn't believe the story myself if I hadn't lived it, but…let me explain how we met."  He related to her the story of how Yami had been trapped inside the Millennium Puzzle, until Yugi had freed him, and the adventures they'd had since, including how Yami had finally figured out enough of how to use the Puzzle's magic that he could form his own body to inhabit, rather than having to borrow Yugi's.  When he was done, it was Laurel's turn to be stunned into silence.

            "Okay…" she said finally, in a small voice, "maybe you can help me."  She turned to Yami, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you…it was a bit much to swallow."

            He waved off the apology, "I understand completely."

            She smiled gratefully, and then changed the subject.  "So, what does this medallion do, exactly, that makes people want it so badly?"

            "The Medallion of Bastet has the power to take its bearer between different planes, or dimensions, as I believe they are now called," Yami said by way of explanation.  When the others looked blank, he sweatdropped.  "You do know about other dimensions, right?"  They both shook their heads.  Yami sighed.  "Well, the first example that comes to mind is the Shadow Realm, of course.  Each dimension is a different world, but not one which can be reached by traveling any distance.  I don't know how it works, so please don't ask.  The number of dimensions is infinite, as is the variety.  There are some in which humans are not the only intelligent species; they coexist with peoples considered in this world to be mythological.  In another, people capture animals and train them to fight.  There is one dimension entirely made of myths and stories from others; it is sort of a connection station to all the others in this group of worlds.  At any rate, they are all connected in thousands of little ways; if the balance between good and evil is thrown off in one of them, it affects all of the others nearby.  There are many ways to travel through dimensions; however, most require a special item, a lot of power or a lot of risk, and those that don't require any of these can only be found by accident.  Therefore, the items which allow such travel are highly coveted, and pursued whenever they appear."  He looked at Laurel, "It is possible that some or all of your foes are from other worlds."

            She shivered, "That would explain why the snake-dude, the one in black, was waving a stick around.  And the guy in the white robe, I've never seen material that shimmered that way, like cloth made from a rainbow."

            "It would indeed explain many things.  So will you stay here?"

            "Yes.  Definitely.  If it's all right with your grandpa, that is.  In which case," she stood and stretched, "it's been a while since I've had a chance to clean up.  Any possibility of my getting a bath?"

            "Oh, sure.  It's over this way, in here," Yugi said, leading her down the hall to the bathroom.

            "I don't suppose you have anything in the line of conditioner or detangler…" she said as she pushed the door open.  Her eyes widened as she saw that the counter was crammed with hair care products.  "Or I could be mistaken."  She glanced at Yugi, who was grinning sheepishly.  "Of course.  With hair like that, you'd have to have this stuff."  She looked around, found everything to her satisfaction, and primly waved Yugi out.  Once he was gone, she plugged the bathtub, turned the water on, and began peeling off layers of clothing.  _Rain gear, polar fleece, everyday clothes, long underwear…whew!  Oh, it feels good to be rid of that stuff._  (A/N: this is approximately what I wear when I go hiking.)  Standing in her underwear, she tested the water.  _Just right._  Removing her final layer, she sank gratefully into the hot water and let it begin loosening the layers of grime.  She needed time to think.

            Clearly, she had found friends, friends who were both willing and able to help her.  She said a quick prayer of thanks to whatever instinct it was that had told her to duck into the Kame Game Shop.  But…now what would she do?  Just hide here, depending on her friends and their powers in order to survive, hoping against hope that her pursuers would give up the chase?  _Not much of a life._  But what else could she do?  Maybe Yami would have some ideas.

            _Yami…_now he was interesting.  Yugi seemed pretty straightforward; sweet, innocent, and courageous all the way through.  Yami was different, though.  He had the same courage, but he added a confidence and majesty to it that Yugi didn't have.  He had seen more of the darkness, it showed in every word he spoke, every expression on his face.  _He'd be a dangerous enemy, that's for sure.  He understands the darkness, in a way that the darkness will never understand the light._  She found herself wanting to get to know him better.

            _Whoa, where did all that come from?_ she wondered suddenly, _Get a grip, Laurel!  First of all, you only just met him, how do you know what he's like?  Next, he's a 5,000 year old Pharaoh, and you're some girl they pulled in off of the street!  So don't even start going down that road, it's just gonna be more trouble than it's worth.  Besides…if he ever found out what happened to me while I was on the street…_She shook her head to clear it of the memory._  But still…_She sighed.

            _No!  No, no, absolutely not!  Besides, what if something happened?  I can't afford to get too close.  I have to stay cool, and not let a pair of purple eyes ruin my shield._

_            No matter how gorgeous they may be,_ said the back of her mind impishly.

            _Gyaah!  Stop it! _She shouted mentally, as her treacherous libido snickered.  Shaking her head vigorously, she drained the tub and took a shower to rinse off and wash her hair, shampooing twice just to make sure.  She let the conditioner sink in an extra-long time, then rinsed her hair and got out.  _Damn, should have asked where the towels were._  She found them under the sink and dried off.  After putting back on what most people would consider everyday clothing, she brushed her hair, gathered the rest of her clothing, and strode back out into the hall.

            "Oh! That feels better," she announced.  "Hey, what should I do with the rest of my clothes?"

            Yugi poked his head out of what Laurel assumed was his room.  "Oh, the laundry room's right next to the bathroom, just put them in the washer."  He pointed to the laundry room.

            After dumping her clothes into the washer, Laurel decided to go to the kitchen and see what she could find to eat.  She went through the living room on her way there.  Yami was sitting on the couch, watching the news.  She wandered over and leaned on the back of the couch.

            "So, what's up in the world?" she asked him.

            "There's a new serial killer around.  He's been attacking people in the next city over.  They say he has a rare psychological condition which makes him believe he is a vampire, because he drains his victims' blood," Yami replied without turning his head.

            She shuddered.  "That must be the guy who came out of the computer, that Myo-something dude.  He's still looking, though; he hasn't found me yet."

            Yami turned to her, intending to say something reassuring, but the words caught in his throat.  The girl Yugi had rescued seemed to have disappeared, washed away with the grime.  The thick, layered clothing of before had hidden an attractive figure, and her hair shone almost golden.  Her eyes had lost some of the dullness they had held at first, and now sparkled with a slightly mischievous light, though they still held uncertainty.  He spent a moment taking in the change, then remembered to blink.  "You look…refreshed."

            She grinned.  "It's amazing, the effect a hot bath can have.  Anyway, I'm hungry.  Want me to get you something?" she asked as she headed for the kitchen.  As she bent to examine the contents of the fridge, Yami could see that she looked a little gaunt.  An inexplicable annoyance rose in him, and he quickly squelched it.

            "No, thank you.  I'm fine," he replied.

            "Suit y'self.  God, it's been so long since I've had so much variety!  I like hamburgers and junk food, but it gets old after a while."  She grabbed an apple and some carrots, then made herself a cheese sandwich.  Putting them on a plate and pouring herself a glass of milk, she came out and sat down next to Yami, and started wolfing down her lunch.

            He looked sidelong at her.  "You seem to be making yourself right at home."

            She swallowed, then grinned cheekily.  "Street kid's habit, I'm afraid.  Get what you can 'afore you hafta get out.  Old instincts die hard."  Her tone was light, but there was a hint of bitterness to her voice.  She took another bite, then swallowed again.  "B'sides, I haven't eaten since yesterday," she said, as if it was an ordinary occurrence; and for her, Yami realized, it probably was.  She turned her full attention back to her sandwich, and Yami watched her for a moment longer, then turned his face to the television once more.  He couldn't seem to focus his attention on it, though.

            His thoughts kept turning back to the girl who sat beside him, the girl who, by her own admission, had spent two years fleeing terrors through the slums of Japan and living on the streets; and the girl who, somehow, had managed to retain at least a semblance of lively spirit.  Some of it was probably real; perhaps even most of it.  The rest, he could see, was masking painful memories.  She had undoubtedly seen many disturbing things in those two years, if he knew anything about human nature.  He hoped she would open up about them, once she knew her hosts a little better.

            Just then, they heard the door open downstairs.  "Yugi?  Yami?  I'm home!" Solomon Moto called out.  Laurel swallowed with a gulp, looking for all the world as if she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't.  Then, seeming to remember her situation, she relaxed.  _I actually have permission to be here,_ she reminded herself.

            "We're up here Grandpa," Yami called back, "And we have a guest."

            "Really?  Who is it, Yami?"  An old man arrived at the top of the stairs.  Shorter than Yugi, his hair and beard were gray.  His hair took the same peculiar shape as Yugi and Yami's, and had undoubtedly been the same color in his youth.  He held several bags of groceries.  Yami was instantly at his side, taking some of the load.  "Thank you."  He spotted Laurel, "Ah, and you must be the guest.  I'm Solomon Moto.  Pleased to meet you."  He extended a hand, and she shook it firmly.  Yami went to put the bags in the kitchen.

            "I'm Laurel Arbor, Mr. Moto.  The pleasure is mine."

            "Oh, no need to be so formal.  Just call me Grandpa, or Solomon; all the other kids do," he said with a smile.

            She smiled back, a little uncertainly.  "Okay…Grandpa."

            "Laurel needs a place to stay for a while, Grandpa," Yami said, returning for the next load, "I've sort of invited her to stay with us…if that's all right."

            "Oh, certainly.  I'm always willing to help out a friend in need," Solomon replied as they followed Yami into the kitchen to put away the groceries.  Once they had finished, he cleared his throat.  "I don't know if this would interest you, Laurel, but I know Yami and Yugi will want to know about it."  He turned to Yami, "Industrial Illusions has come out with a new expansion set."

            "New expansion set?" three voices chorused simultaneously – one curious, one excited, and one confused.  Yugi had come out of his room at just that moment.  "Hi, Grandpa."

            "Hello, Yugi.  Yes, a new expansion set.  It's called "Worldsheaf", and it looks to have some interesting new cards."

            "Cards?  What kind of cards are we talking about, Magic: The Gathering?  I used to have a decent deck for that…"  Laurel mused.

            "No, Duel Monsters.  It's what we do," Yami said matter-of-factly.

            "Oh, I don't know much about that.  And I haven't seen my deck since I ran out the door with nothing but my backpack and my little sister, two years ago.  My 'Mirri, Cat Warrior' is just gathering dust."  She shuddered, "Not that I would go back for it, or anything."

            Solomon looked at her oddly.  "Young lady, just why did you need a place to stay?"

            Yugi cut in, "She's being chased, Grandpa.  By a creepy guy with a trained cougar, and a bunch of others, too.  She ducked into the shop to hide from his minions, and I helped her."

            "Why were they chasing you?" the old man asked her.

            "For this."  Laurel held up the medallion.

            Solomon reached forward hesitantly.  "May I?"

            She paused a moment, then took it off and handed it to him.  "Just don't hurt it."

            "Heaven forbid I should damage such an artifact.  This is an object of great power…held by the High Priestess of Bastet in ancient times."  He glanced at Yami, "But of course, you already knew that."

            He nodded, "I did.  Some of those chasing her are from other planes; all seek to control the multiverse."  He looked at Laurel, "It seemed a wise thing to protect her."

            "Indeed," Solomon nodded, "Now, about the new expansion.  I've pulled out a few cards which I found interesting.  I think you should have a look at them, especially now that the medallion has come to light."  He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small box.  Opening it, he took out a few cards and spread them out on the kitchen counter.

            Yugi picked up the first one.  It had a picture of a sword whose blade seemed to shimmer with an unearthly light.  "'Blade of Evil's Bane'," he read, "This one would be good with Celtic Guardian."

            "It would," Yami said, looking over Yugi's shoulder.  "Yugi…may I see that?  There's something odd about it."  Yugi handed it to him.  His eyes narrowed.  "This is not from the Shadow Games.  But it has magic…strong magic.  It's connected to another world."  He glanced at the other cards, "All of them are."

            "The same world?" Yugi asked.  Yami shook his head.

            "No…no two cards connect to the same plane.  And none of them connect to the Shadow Realm."

            Laurel wasn't paying any attention.  She had picked up a creature card called 'Psyclone', and was studying it.  "I like this one," she said, "It almost looks like a cat, sort of."  The creature was purple and white, and its eyes were filled with a solid blue glow.  It stood on its hind legs, had a tail that bulged at the end, and, other than the general shape of its head, really looked very little like a cat.  Nevertheless, there was something catlike in its pose, and in its…feel.

            Yami looked through the rest of the cards.  All of them were creatures.  "Digital Guardian…" a card with an image of a young man in a cream-colored cloak, "Ancient Wizard," an old man in white robes, holding a staff.  His expression was determined, but compassionate, and his white hair flowed down over his shoulders to mingle with an equally white beard.  Despite his apparent age, he exuded calm strength.  "Barmy Old Codger," another old man.  He wore purple robes and a matching pointed hat.  Where the other's expression was serious, this card was smiling, and had a mischievous twinkle in his eye.  He, too, had long white beard and hair, and he wore half-moon glasses perched on a long, crooked nose.  "All connected to different worlds.  Curious."

            His musings were interrupted by a scratching sound at the door downstairs.  "Eh?" Solomon said, "What could that be?"  He went down to check it out.  A moment later, they heard a cry of "Oh!", and a ginger tabby cat raced up the stairs, making a beeline for Laurel.  It twined around the surprised teen's ankles and meowed imperiously.  She picked it up and quickly checked the gender – it was a female – as Solomon rejoined them.  "It just dashed right in," he explained, slightly perplexed, "Rather unusual behavior for a stray."

            "It certainly is," Laurel agreed.  "What's your name, kitty?"  She felt the cat's neck gently for a collar, but found none.  "But she doesn't have any tags."  She looked into a pair of wide hazel eyes, "You're certainly a pretty girl, aren't you?" she cooed.  The cat purred, then licked Laurel's nose.  She wiped it off with a giggle.

            Yugi laughed, "I think you've been adopted."

            "So it would seem," Solomon agreed, with an odd glint in his eye.  "Well, I think we can afford to keep a cat, as long as no one's allergic.  I certainly don't want to throw her back out into the cold; and she seems to have made herself quite at home."  Laurel grinned; the cat was now curled snugly in her arms, purring like a chainsaw.

            "You hear that, kitty?" she told it, "We're both gonna get to stay here."  She looked the feline over, "What should we call you?"

            "How about Cinnamon?" Yugi piped up, "Her fur's swirled like a cinnamon roll."

            Laurel grinned, "Perfect."  She cuddled the cat more tightly, making her purr still louder.  "Come on, Cinnamon, let's find you something to eat."

            As the others departed from the kitchen, Yami shook his head, as if to clear it.  Yugi noticed.  "You okay, Yami?"

            "Fine.  It's just…You know my memory still has a lot of holes.  She's triggered something…It didn't happen until I saw her with a cat in her arms, but I think she was there somewhere."

            "Yeah, she does seem to have a thing for cats," Yugi observed with a smile.

            Yami returned the smile.  "That she does, aibou."

***************************************************************************************************

So, what do you think?  Good, bad, ugly?  Greenwood Dancer, thanks for the review, I didn't get it until I had already started writing this chapter.  I'm glad you like the story; it'll never measure up to some of yours.

Anyone who wants to tell me who's chasing Laurel, and/or who's on the cards, feel free to take a guess.  Oh, and I don't precisely own Cinnamon; she's based off of my owner, Ginger, who matches the description given except that he's male.

Next chapter: Meet the Gang.

Read and review!


	3. Ch 3a: Meeting Plans

Hey, I'm back! I'm not really dead; for the past two weeks, I've been on vacation. First we drove to Las Vegas, which took a few days, spent a few more days there, then went on an eight-day whitewater rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. So it really isn't my fault I haven't updated; there aren't any computers in the Grand Canyon, especially since wireless connections don't work there, and I didn't have access to a computer while I was in Vegas. Even if I had, I was too busy to type anything out. So…yeah. So much for updating more because it's summer.

Reviewer response time!

Greenwood Dancer: I'm pretty sure I already responded to your review via email, although I can't remember just what I said. So I'll just say thanks for reviewing, and I'll do my best to keep dimension travel as simple and unconfusing as possible.

The1koolkitty: If I recall correctly, I emailed you, too. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the other ones, although Cinnamon doesn't make much of an appearance. I'll make it up later.

Laryna6: Hello! I must admit, I was surprised to see that you had come to read this. I understand being put off by OCs, and I'll do my very best not to make her a Sue. I'm certainly glad you think it's worth reading anyway. Hearing that from someone who doesn't care much for OCs is a major ego boost.

Silver Dragon Golden Dragon: Wow, I can't believe you came to read this, too. I know, it's a lot of crossovers, but I intend to keep this story completely Yu-gi-oh based. There will be no gallivanting across the dimensions, except possibly a trip or two to the Shadow Realm, which almost doesn't count. I'll do my very best to include some Seto/Serenity later on, although since the story really doesn't focus much on either of them, it probably won't be much. The sequel focuses more on the Kaiba family, and I can guarantee there'll be plenty of it there. Glad to see you like the cat; she keeps getting better from here on out. And I see you've recognized one of the villains correctly, although I don't quite see why you've missed him. I actually don't like him at all, but I'm more accustomed to writing for him than for others, primarily because of the character from that arc that I _do_ miss, a certain small data-type wizard, who unfortunately does not make an appearance in this fic.

To all readers: So far, I've gotten two guesses for the cards – both from the same person – and one guess for a villain. I'd really like to see what people think about who they are. I'll even give you hints: for every villain, there is a card from the same fandom; the group of fandoms consists of two anime, two book-series-turned-movies, and a video game. All of these fandoms have at least one story on my favorites list.

Sigh Another reason it took so long to get this chapter out is because it's really just filler stuff, not a lot of plot motion, and I hate writing filler. But it has to be done; I know better than to simply skip over the part where she meets the others entirely, although I won't be writing all of it out. So just bear with me, the plot's still getting itself set up.

In case there were any doubts, I still don't own Yu-gi-oh or the other five fandoms. So, without further ado, I bring you…

* * *

Ch. 3: Meet the Gang

"All my friends are here with me,

And things are good

As they can be…"

-All We Wanna Do, from the Totally Pokemon CD

That night, at dinner, Solomon pressed Laurel for information about her deck of Magic: The Gathering cards. "Tell me, Laurel, what cards did you have in your deck besides Mirri?"

Her eyes got a far-off look. "Oh, there was a whole assortment of various cats, some elves, cards that had you pick a creature type for their effect to work with, some growth and regeneration spells – lots of green cards – and some red as well, for wildcats and direct damage." She closed her eyes, remembering. "Panther Warriors, Elite Cat Warrior, Uktabi Wildcats. Caller of the Hunt, which has power and toughness each equal to the number of cards of whatever creature type you choose. Waiting in the Weeds, a spell that lets you put a Cat token into play for every forest you control. Might of Oaks, Rancor, and Regeneration. Taunting Elf, Quirion Elves. Canyon Wildcat, Lightning Bolt, Fireball. There were more, but I can't remember exactly what. It's been a while." She opened her eyes again, though not fast enough to see Solomon put away the notebook in which he had been hastily scribbling the names of the cards she mentioned. "I used to be quite a card player; never actually won a tournament or anything, but I got close a couple times." She shook her head, "No sense in dwelling on it now; those days are gone." She looked at Yami and Yugi, "So, how, exactly, do you play Duel Monsters?"

By the time the boys had finished talking her ears off about Duel Monsters, it was time for bed. "Hmm…" Grandpa said, "We don't really have an extra bed, I'm afraid. There are blankets and pillows in the hall closet, but no extra mattresses to put them on."

"That's no problem. As long as it's okay with you, I'll just sleep on the couch," Laurel replied cheerfully.

"Are you sure?" Yugi asked, "If you want, I'll sleep on the couch, and you can have my bed."

She smiled warmly at him, "No, really, it's nice of you to offer, but I don't want to be a bother. I'm the guest here; it would hardly be fair of me to kick you out of your own bedroom. The couch is fine. A real bed would probably be too soft for me to sleep in anyway," she joked.

"Well, if that's settled, then could you get the bedding out of the closet, Yami?" Grandpa said, "I'll see you all in the morning; it's past my bedtime." He yawned and went down the hall, followed by a chorus of 'Goodnight's, and a moment later by Yami, who stopped at a door halfway down the hall and started pulling blankets off the shelves.

Yugi yawned as well. "Goodnight, Laurel. I'll see you in the morning," he said sleepily.

"Goodnight, Yugi. And thank you, for everything. Not many people would take in a complete stranger off the streets even just for a meal, let alone to stay. Believe me, I know." She smiled sardonically.

"Don't mention it. I just do my best to treat everyone the way I would want them to treat me." He smiled, "And I never did care so much what everyone else would do."

Her smile grew warm. "That I can believe. Now go on, get some sleep. I'll be just fine out here."

"Ok. Goodnight, then." He went into the first door in the hallway, which Laurel assumed to be his room. As he left, Yami entered with an armload of blankets and pillows.

"Here you are. These should be enough to keep you warm," he told her, setting them down on the couch.

She eyed the huge pile with amusement, "Warm and then some, I'd say. I'll just take the comforter, and leave the others beside the couch in case I get cold. Thank you." She set two of the blankets aside, and began spreading one out over the couch.

"Is there anything else you want?" he asked.

Her heart twinged with pain for a moment. _My sister_... _my home_..._ my life,_ she thought. Shaking off the dark thoughts, aloud she said, "No, thank you. All of you have been more than kind already. I just hope someday I can find a way to pay you back."

Yami shook his head, "There's no need for that. It was simply the right thing to do. We could do no less."

Her expression was earnest, "You have no idea what it means to me simply to hear someone say that. There are so many people who would make some logical excuse to get out of it, so many others who simply wouldn't care. But for you…all of you make it seem so easy, so natural; as if it would be harder to send me away for your own safety than it is to keep me here."

"Would you believe me if I told you that that was true?" He shook his head, "Get some rest. You can sleep soundly tonight; you are safe here."

"I know I am," she replied softly, then yawned. "I'll see you in the morning," she said, gathering her nightclothes to go change.

"Goodnight." Yami strode quietly toward the same door that Yugi had entered, and went through.

Laurel barely paid attention to what she was doing as she went into the bathroom and changed into her pajamas. She was deep in thought, contemplating everything that had happened that day. When she was finished, she went back to the couch, only to discover that Cinnamon had taken over her pillow. Moving the cat gently, she lay down, and was almost instantly asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Yami was, as usual, the first one up. Yawning as he slipped through his bedroom door wearing his bathrobe, he made his way to the kitchen for breakfast. His bare feet padded lightly over the linoleum.

"Eea?" he heard behind him. Turning, he saw Cinnamon stalking over to sniff at his feet.

"Good morning, milady," he greeted her. It might seem strange to some, but after all, he'd been trained from an early age to be reverent toward cats. Besides, it never hurt to be polite, especially when the cat goddess' sacred item was under the same roof.

The cat ignored his words, choosing instead to begin nuzzling at his feet. It tickled, but was bearable, if slightly annoying. A moment later, however, she upped the stakes once more, by licking his toes with her rough pink tongue. He shifted his feet a little, but the cat followed willingly. He gritted his teeth, _By Ra, that tickles!_ He continued to shuffle his way around the kitchen, being careful not to kick the cat, while at the same time futilely trying to avoid her ministrations. He recalled hearing once about a Roman torture method that involved pouring salty water over a person's feet and having goats lick it off. At the time, he'd scoffed at the idea. He wasn't laughing now.

Suddenly, and to Yami's intense relief, the cat was scooped up. "Cinnamon, are you bugging Yami?" Laurel asked. The amber-eyed feline looked at her for a moment, then started licking her chin. "Ack! Cinnamon, your tongue's all prickly!" She brushed the cat away gently, then started petting her. In the meantime, she grinned at Yami. "Sorry 'bout that. She's very affectionate, you may have noticed."

"A little hard not to," he responded dryly. "You want some cereal? I was getting some anyway."

"Oh, you don't need to go to that much trouble. I can fix my own." She started to put Cinnamon down.

"No, really, I insist. That way, you don't have to put her," he indicated the cat, "back down on the floor, where she will undoubtedly return to her previous occupation. Think of it as repayment for rescuing me from an ignominious death by tickling," he said with a wry smile.

Laurel giggled a little, and went to sit at the table. "In that case, I accept." She sat in silence, stroking Cinnamon attentively until Yami arrived with two bowls of cereal. They ate in silence for a few minutes, broken only by Laurel occasionally scolding the cat for trying to drink her milk.

Yami eventually broke the stillness. "So, what would you like to do today?"

"I don't know…maybe meet some of your friends?" she replied, "They sound like a fun group, from what you told me yesterday."

"That's a good idea, actually, especially if there is evil in the area. We can have the whole group over, and you'll be able to meet them all, as well as warning them to watch their steps." He seemed to think for a moment, "Well, Kaiba probably won't come, but Mokuba will." Laurel noticed that he didn't seem especially disappointed at the idea of Kaiba staying home.

Yugi wandered sleepily into the kitchen, "Hey, guys." He yawned. "What's up?"

"Laurel wants to meet the rest of the group. I thought we could invite them over, all together, and let them know what's going on."

"All of them? That's gonna be one full house!"

"All except the elder Kaiba. We can invite him, too, but you know as well as I do that he won't come," Yami clarified.

"Which is really just as well, considering how well the two of you get along."

"It isn't like I don't respect him," Yami protested, "He's an excellent Duelist, and an honorable person. It's not my fault that he's more arrogant than a peacock and about as personable as a cobra."

"True, but it doesn't help that you tell him so pretty much every time you see him."

Laurel, watching this exchange, had to suppress a smile.

"Anyway," Yugi continued, "he does have powerful magic, and it would be good to have his help. He's more…reliable…than, say, Bakura."

"Don't remind me," Yami growled, "But we can't leave Ryou out, so the Tomb Robber will have to be present."

Laurel was confused. "Can't you just tell the 'Tomb Robber' not to come?"

"No, unfortunately. He shares Ryou's body, and we do want Ryou here. And Bakura's a strong ally, if it's in his own interests to be so," Yugi explained, "Once he hears what's happening, I'm sure he'll agree to help."

"Either that or try to take the Medallion for himself," Yami grumbled.

"We'll just have to keep an eye on him," Yugi replied, knowing it was pointless to argue that Bakura wouldn't try something like that. The former King of Thieves had come by his reputation quite dishonestly.

"Keep an eye on who?" Solomon Moto asked, entering the kitchen with a yawn. "Good morning, everyone. What are you three up to?"

"Planning a get-together," Yugi replied, "Laurel wants to meet everybody, so we're having the whole gang over. Uh, that is, if it's okay with you, Grandpa."

Solomon chuckled, "I must be getting old; people keep making plans without me. Go ahead and invite however many people you want. You boys know the rules."

"Thanks, Grandpa!" Yugi responded cheerfully, "I'll start making phone calls!"

"Finish your breakfast first, Yugi, they won't all be awake yet."

"Oh, right."

Smiling, Laurel excused herself from the table, having finished her own breakfast. She put her bowl in the sink, grabbed some fresh clothes from her pack, and went into the bathroom to change and freshen up. When she was done, she put her nightclothes away and went back into the kitchen. Solomon was now discussing the shop.

"The RPGs are selling well, both tabletop and video games. And I'm expecting an increase in card sales, with the new expansion just out." He paused, "I should mention…every so often, perhaps about once a month, your friend Ryou comes in, apparently looking for you, and every time, something expensive wanders off. It always reappears somewhere else about a week later, so I don't worry – but I can't seem to catch him at it."

Yami sighed, "No, you wouldn't. That isn't Ryou, though; it's Bakura, the Tomb Robber. He can disguise himself to look just like his hikari. We've told you about him, how he used to be the King of Thieves. You'll never actually catch him stealing something; he's too good at what he does."

"Oh, that's right. But…why in the world would he steal something, then bring it back?"

Yugi shrugged. "We think maybe he does it just to keep his skills sharp. Or maybe he's just a kleptomaniac," he explained. "Anyway, returning them unseen is as much of a challenge as taking them in the first place, and if he didn't return most of what he steals, Ryou's house would be crammed full of junk." He rose from the table, "I'm done. I'll go make those phone calls." He carried his plate over to the sink, then crossed the kitchen and picked up the phone.

Grandpa spotted Laurel. "Oh, Laurel, I have a surprise for you. I'm going to get dressed first, then I'll meet you downstairs in the shop. All right?"

Laurel blinked in surprise, "Uh, sure."

A few minutes later, both of them were standing near the shop's glass counter. Yami, now dressed as well, had followed and was at the foot of the stairs. He knew what the surprise was, and wanted to see what would happen.

Grandpa opened a drawer and reached inside. "…Ah, here it is," he said, pulling out a small box of the type used to store various types of cards, "For you." He handed it to her.

She opened it curiously. It was full of Magic cards. Reaching out to touch the first one, she pulled back suddenly. It felt as if the card had shocked her, just a little. She reached out again, accepting the tingle, pulled the card free of the box, and turned it around to see, "Mirri…" she breathed. "Grandpa…did you…where…how…?" she asked, flipping through the rest of the cards, "It's my deck! Down to the last card!"

"Is it? You didn't name all the cards, so I filled in the gaps as well as I could." He smiled, "You like it, then?"

"I love it! Gosh, this must have taken you hours! You did this just for me? Oh, Grandpa!" She suddenly swept the old man up in a huge bear hug, tears squeezing through her eyelids. "Thank you so much," she whispered. Releasing him, she wiped her eyes quickly with the back of her hand, "Oh, I must look so silly, crying over a deck of cards…but it's like a part of me that I've gotten back. I didn't realize until now what it meant to me." She gave a prolonged sniff. "I almost feel like I shouldn't accept this…you've already done so much for me…"

"Nonsense! Those cards belong to you; they would even if I kept them. Besides, you may need them."

Yami watched all of this in silence, observing the flow of energies. The cards themselves pulsed with red and green life; they were similar to, and yet different from, Duel Monsters cards. What was curious was the dim glow inside of Laurel herself, that had burst into life when she touched the cards. It filled her now, green with red streaks, making her aura look like an exotic plant. Grandpa was right; the cards were hers, reaching inside her heart and calling out her dormant magic. _And__ of that she has plenty,_ he noted, _More than an ordinary person, certainly, but less than Kaiba or myself. Most intriguing. Who was she?_ His recalcitrant memory, however, gave no reply.

Laurel turned, to see him watching from the foot of the stairs. "Hey, Yami," she called, "You know how to play Magic?"

"No, but I'm a fast learner." He smirked.

"Cool. Grandpa, do you have any practice decks he could borrow?"

Grandpa nodded, "Yes, I keep them around so I can show people how the game works." He got them out. "Here you are, Yami, pick one. This one," he indicated the one on the right, "is a blue and white Counterspell deck, geared around suddenly stopping an opponent's move. The other is a black and green Gravedigger deck, geared around getting creatures into play directly from the graveyard. Take your pick."

After a moment's consideration, Yami chose the Counterspell deck. "All right," he turned to Laurel, "How does this game work?"

* * *

All right! I'm afraid I'm gonna have to be done with this now; tomorrow I'm going to my dad's for a month, and his computer doesn't have Internet access. It also doesn't have Word. I'll do some typing over there, on that obnoxious Wordperfect program, but I won't be able to post anything. So the actual event this chapter was going to be named for won't happen until next chapter. Sorry!

Remember, review with guesses as to who's who!


	4. Ch 3b: Meet the Gang

Hey, I'm alive! Sorry it's taken so long to finally meet people; I could say I've been busy, or had writer's block, but the truth is I've had this written out and was simply unmotivated to type it. But now I've mustered my determination and my small reserve of work ethic, and I'm going to type this bit out once and for all. Then we can start getting to the interesting stuff!

Reviewer replies are at the end of the chapter; that's really all I have to say at the moment. So enjoy…

Chapter 3b: Meet the Gang

"That's what friends are for!"

_-the vultures in The Jungle Book_

One hour after they began playing, the score was Laurel: 1, Yami: 2. "I don't see how you do it!" Laurel told him after his second win, scratching her head in confusion, "Are you sure you've never played this game before?"

"Positive," he replied with a smirk.

"And I've been playing for years. I'm not that good, especially since I haven't played much lately, but I should still be able to beat a newbie. Or at the very least, put up a decent fight." She stared at the configuration of the cards again, "I don't think I've ever been beaten so soundly. You're really good at this."

"Thank you. This isn't too different from Duel Monsters, and I have a knack for games in general."

"No kidding," Laurel replied, shaking her head.

Just then, they heard the door open, bells tinkling. "Yo, Yug'! You around?" a voice called.

"Hello, Joey," Yami called, "Yugi's upstairs. Laurel and I are in back."

"Oh, hey Yami. Whatcha doin' back there?" A boy with unruly blond hair and warm brown eyes came around the shelves to have a look. "Oh, cool, you taught her…wait a minute, those aren't Duel Monsters!"

"No, I taught Yami to play Magic: the Gathering. He can beat me every time now. Hi, I'm Laurel Arbor." She extended a hand.

He took it. "Nice to meet ya, Laurel. I'm Joey Wheeler, and this is my sister…" he turned and moved aside as if to make way for someone behind him…but there was no one there. "Sis? Hey, Serenity!" He looked around wildly.

"I'm over here, Joey," said a pretty auburn-haired girl, appearing from behind a shelf, "I was just looking at some of the games." To Laurel she said, "Hi, I'm Serenity. Don't mind my brother; I don't."

Laurel giggled at their antics. "It's nice to meet both of you. Why don't you let us clean up here, while you two head upstairs. Yugi has some snacks-" she was interrupted by an inrush of air to the spot where Joey had just been "…set out?" She looked around, "Where'd Joey go?"

Serenity sighed a little. "You mentioned food and a location. That's where you'll find my big brother," she informed Laurel.

"Oh, one of those, huh?" Laurel replied with a grin, "We'd best follow him if we want there to be anything left for us!" They laughed, and trooped up the stairs, chatting amicably.

…And leaving Yami to clean up the game. He sweatdropped briefly, then scooped up the cards and set them on the counter. Then he hurried upstairs after the girls.

Laurel and Serenity were sitting on the couch, discussing their siblings. Yugi and Joey, meanwhile, stood over at the snack table, apparently talking about the new Duel Monsters expansion. Yami caught snatches of the girls' conversation, and moved closer to listen in.

"You wouldn't believe some of the stunts he's pulled," Serenity was saying, "Once, he jumped out of his bedroom window with a parachute made of bed sheets, after he'd been sent to his room." They laughed.

"My sister's had her moments, too," Laurel confessed, "I remember a time when she was two…"

"What did she do?"

"Well, see, I had this fish…It was one of those hundred-yen goldfish that you get at elementary school carnivals, you know the type." Serenity nodded. "Anyway, it wasn't much, except that I was seven and it was the only pet I could have. So we'd had the fish for a couple days, when Cara came to our cousin – who took care of us 'cause we were orphans – sobbing out something like, 'I just wanted to look at it!' She led us into the kitchen, and there was my fish, floating upside-down in the bowl with finger-shaped bruises on its sides. She had, as we found out once she calmed down, wanted to see the fish closer. Unfortunately, she didn't know that fish can't survive out of the water." Serenity, at this point, was laughing so hard she was almost on the floor. "So she had picked up the fish, and it flopped around pretty hard, of course, trying to get back into the water. This in turn meant that she held on pretty hard, hence the bruises. So there's my little sister, holding onto a terrified, breathless, bruised goldfish, waiting for it to stop flopping so she can pet it." Laurel laughed too. "I acted more upset than I was; it's not like the goldfish was a real entertaining pet."

"I can imagine," Serenity replied still giggling a little, "So where is she?"

Laurel looked down, humor gone. "She's at a friend's house, last I heard. I had to leave her there two years ago, and I don't dare go back," she said quietly.

"Why not?" Serenity asked with a sympathetic look.

"There are people chasing me; I don't want to put her in danger. I wish I could be there with her, more than anything in the world, but she's safer if I'm not there." Laurel's tone was frustrated.

"Oh, wow, that must be awful. Why are they chasing you?"

Laurel sighed, "Can we wait until everyone's here? I'd like to be able to say it just once."

"Oh, of course. I understand." Serenity nodded. Just then, a voice came up the stairwell.

"Hey, folks! The cavalry's here!" A teenage boy with brown hair that came to a point in front entered the room, followed by one with long black hair, green eyes, and a dice earring. "Hey, Serenity!" the brunette continued, "Hi Joey, Yugi, Yami." He looked at Laurel, "You must be the reason we're here. I'm Tristan Taylor, and dice-boy here is Duke Devlin."

A blonde woman with large violet eyes came up the stairs behind them, looking amused and slightly annoyed. "Haven't you boys ever heard of ladies first?" she asked them. Tristan looked chagrined, while Duke took his distraction as an opportunity to sit on the couch beside Serenity.

"Uh, yeah. Oops," Tristan replied, not noticing Duke. He turned to Laurel, "This lovely lady is Mai Valentine."

"Your valentine?" Laurel asked, one eyebrow raised, "That's sweet, but it's July, not February. What's her name?"

"Mai Valentine. Spelled M-A-I," the blonde-haired woman announced. "I don't know what my parents were thinking."

"Oh." Now it was Laurel's turn to look embarrassed, "Sorry. I'm Laurel Arbor, nice to meet you." She stood up and walked around the couch to shake Mai's hand; Tristan immediately claimed her spot.

Mai took the proffered hand, "Charmed. Don't worry about the name thing; happens all the time." She turned to Yugi, "Ryou was a couple blocks behind us; he should be here in a couple minutes."

"Good!" Yugi replied, "Then we'll just have to wait for Téa and Mokuba."

Laurel shook her head with a grin, "Yugi, you have a lot of close friends."

"I meet a lot of friendly people," he responded, "And I tend to see friends in places other people don't." Everyone nodded.

"An' aren't we all glad you do, too, Yug'," Joey said, ruffling the smaller teen's hair.

Downstairs, a bell tinkled faintly. "Hello?" a soft voice called, with a trace of an English accent.

"We're up here, Ryou!" Yugi called down to him.

A boy with long, slightly spiky white hair came up. "Hello, everyone!" he said cheerfully.

The room broke out in variations on the theme of 'Hi, Ryou!' Laurel approached him, but as she came near, he tripped on the top step.

"Oh, goodness, are you all right?" Laurel reached down to help him up, but he waved her off politely.

"No, no, I'm fine, happens all the time," he said with a sheepish grin.

Serenity was at the window. "Hey you guys, there's a limousine parked out front."

"Kaiba," Yami said.

"How'd you guess," Serenity said dryly. "Wait…hang on, looks like he gave Téa a ride, too. They're all coming in…and there goes the limo." She turned back to face the room, "Kaiba's staying?"

"I guess so," Yugi replied, then, hearing the bell jingle, called down the stairs, "Hi, guys, we're up here!"

"Hi, Yugi!" a girl with brown hair and blue eyes said as she came up the stairs, "You guys will never guess what happened to me on my way here."

"Kaiba stopped and offered you a ride," Tristan 'guessed' with a grin.

The girl was dumbstruck. "How did you...?"

"Serenity saw out the window," replied Joey, "The question is, why'd 'e do it?"

"I got him to do it!" said a voice. They turned to see a little boy with long, spiky black hair. "I can get Seto to do anything!" He scampered into the room, making way for a tall, brown-haired teenager in a trenchcoat. He cast one look around the room with his cold blue eyes, then moved over to stand by his brother.

In the meantime, the girl had spotted Laurel. "You must be Yugi's new friend!" she said, "I'm Téa. It's nice to meet you!"

"Likewise. My name is Laurel. So that means the tall one is Seto and the cute one is Mokuba?"

"Yup!" replied Mokuba with a grin.

"And now everybody's here, right?" She looked at Yugi.

"Right."

"Which means you can get down to the business you called us here for," Kaiba spoke for the first time.

"Okay." Laurel drew a deep breath. "Everyone get comfortable, it's a kinda long story." She told them the pertinent details of how she got the medallion, and the people who were chasing her.

"So, I ended up here. Yugi, Yami and Grandpa have been kind enough to let me stay here with them. That was yesterday, and I'm still sort of settling in." She sighed, then looked around. Most of the faces showed sympathy; Serenity looked close to tears. Kaiba's face was impassive, but his eyes weren't quite as narrow as before.

"I don't get it," Joey said, breaking the silence that followed, "What do those guys want wit' dat medal?"

"It's a medallion, not a medal," Laurel corrected, "Yami? You understand it best."

Yami nodded. "It is the Medallion of Bastet, and it allows travel between different planes." He explained what that meant. "If the wrong people get their hands on it, they could throw the multiverse into imbalance; that would be a catastrophe."

"What would happen?" asked Duke.

"No one knows entirely. It starts with unusual weather: snowstorms in June, extreme heat waves, that sort of thing. Then holes start opening in the fabric of space and time, allowing passage between planes. It's happened before, but someone was always there to stop it before it got past that stage." He sighed a little, "It appears that we're it, this time. Fortunately, we can prevent it from even starting by not letting them get the medallion. Questions?"

"I got one," Joey said, "What can we do against these dudes? I mean, you and Bakura, and Kaiba, too, according to you guys, you guys got powers; what've we got?"

"Joey's right," Mai put in, "You and Bakura have your Shadow games, and Kaiba has dragons, but not everybody can use magic to summon cards outside of a duel."

"Actually, you can learn to do it," Yugi said, "but it'll be very draining, especially right at first, so other methods are probably better if you haven't been trained to summon. But you can still tell us about anything unusual that you happen to see. And it's good to be warned, so you don't underestimate them. Also, from what Laurel tells us, at least one of them is vulnerable to hand-to-hand combat techniques. That's the guy with the cougar; he seems to be an ordinary human, so you just have to watch out for the cat."

"Mrrow?" said Cinnamon, poking her head out of the hallway.

"And watch out for that cat, too," Laurel told them, "She kills anything, as long as it's ankle-height or lower!"

That broke the mood, and everyone (except Kaiba the elder) laughed.

"'ey, I'm hungry!" said Joey, "I think it's lunchtime."

"Yeah, let's get something to eat," agreed Tristan.

The crowd dispersed into conversation groups. Some people headed for the kitchen, led by Joey and Tristan. Duke, taking advantage of the momentary absence of both competition and protection, started flirting with Serenity. Kaiba followed the kitchen group at a distance, keeping an eye on Mokuba, while Mai and Téa struck up a conversation. Laurel hung back a bit, cradling Cinnamon in her arms and blinking back tears. Yami noticed, and moved to stand beside her.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly.

Laurel nodded vigorously, "Wonderful. Ever since I got here, everything's been wonderful. I just can't remember ever having so many people willing to help me before, even when I lived with my cousin. Instead of assuming they can't do anything and just letting us do the work, they ask what they can do. It's a little overwhelming, is all." She wiped her eyes hastily and sniffled, "Look at me, in tears twice on the same morning. I must be going soft." She flashed him a sardonic half-smile, "I'll be fine, go on and hang out."

"If you're sure…" he said hesitantly.

"I'm sure," she smiled again, more sincerely this time. He gave her one last, searching look, then nodded and moved off toward the kitchen.

_She isn't, though,_ he thought, _I shouldn't press her…but she isn't all right. It's probably just memories of her family, nothing else. She's had a long two years, after all. Anyone could be expected to be a little emotional._ He sighed. _Why am I so worried? No one else seems to think anything's wrong. If everyone else believes she's fine, who am I to correct them?_

_Someone with more experience, that's who,_ he answered himself, _Especially__ when it comes to the emotionally damaged._ He watched as Joey tried to put a friendly arm around her shoulders. Laurel stiffened almost imperceptibly before politely shrugging it off. _That isn't normal behavior._

_It may very well be normal for someone in her position, _the other part of him replied. He sighed, _Wonderful, now I'm arguing with myself. Isn't that a sign of an unbalanced mind? At any rate, once the evil has been dealt with, she'll go back to her sister and live with her. This is only a temporary solution._ An image of her tearstained face floated across his imagination. _Gods, that was hard to watch…hard to not act upon. I wanted so much just to hold her, comfort her, make sure she knew I would be there for her… _He shook his head, _Hormones! I'm five thousand years old, and still seventeen._ He blinked suddenly, realizing that while he'd been thinking about Laurel, he'd managed to fill a plate with snacks and sit down on the couch. _When did I get here? I need to get more sleep, I shouldn't be spacing out like that._ Upon a sudden impulse, he looked around for Ryou. The boy was nowhere in sight. _Damn! I was supposed to be keeping an eye on him!_ He got up, carefully setting his plate down in his spot, and threaded his way through the group to the hallway. He reached the room that he and Yugi shared, and opened the door to find…

"Tomb Robber," he growled. Bakura looked around at him.

"Oh, it's you. Nice place you've got here."

"Yes, well, I'd prefer to know what you've got that we no longer have." Yami looked around. "Yugi's alarm clock." Bakura pulled it out of his pocket and replaced it sullenly. "His piggybank."

"Feh, it would have jingled too much anyway."

"The snowglobe he gave me for Christmas."

"Now how did that get in my sleeve?"

"…I think that's it."

"There wasn't much interesting stuff to take. You two need some more valuable knick-knacks."

"Just out of curiosity, why the clock? You took the piggybank because it's money, and the snowglobe because it would annoy me, I know that, but…"

"They don't make that style of Dark Magician clocks anymore. They're collectible. That thing'd fetch a lot from the right buyer."

"I'll remember that. Now, out."

"With pleasure."

Yami followed the thief out, and met up with Yugi in the hallway. "Hey, Yami. What're you up to?"

"Relieving Bakura of our belongings and kicking him out of our room. Let me know if I missed anything."

"Okay, thanks." Yugi went in. "Looks okay so far."

"Good. Oh, he mentioned that that clock of yours is collectible."

"Really? Cool!" Yugi came out and closed the door. "Ok, let's head back to the party. Were those chips and things sitting on the couch yours?"

"Yes, those are mine."

"Not anymore. Joey ate them."

"…Oh."

* * *

So, what'cha think? I hope I got everyone in character. How'd people like Bakura? I've mellowed him out a lot; he isn't out to kill Yami anymore, just to annoy him whenever possible.

Reviewer Responses:

MsRyoki: Thanks! I'm glad you like it.

Silver Dragon Golden Dragon: Dating a vampire? O.o. I'll admit that vampires are the only undead I don't automatically hate, but… Anyway, I'm glad you like the little anecdotes, I was wondering if I should include stuff like that or leave it out. And I'm glad you don't mind the gaps! I just don't often have a lot of time, and the time that I have I tend to spend reading fics rather than typing them.

Greenwood Dancer: Thanks! Don't worry about how long it takes to review, I'm not always consistent either. I'm glad you think it's funny!

Anyway, RR please! I'm going to start giving out Tribbles (Small fluffy things that coo when petted and multiply incredibly quickly when fed. They have no discernable head or face; they are literally balls of fluff) to reviewers. Please specify what color Tribble you want when you review. Thanx!


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